forum: FAQ's

Re: Need a few decent knives

You can actually get along with one good knife, you definitely don't need a set. I have a Global 18cm Oriental Cook's Knife (about £50) which is perfect for everything from finely chopping garlic to chopping big veg or carving meat. I own a small Global utility knife but rarely use it. A large knife can do small and large jobs, a small knife can only do small jobs.

Global knives are made from very good steel so hold their edge well and sharpen easily, and they're also a bit lighter than European knives like Wusthofs. You really need to visit a good cook shop and handle a few different knives to see what suits your hand size and grip. Remember that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. Spend £50-60 on a decent knife and you'll never need another one!

The only other thing I would suggest is a decent serrated knife for slicing things like tomatoes and fresh bread, but there's no need to go for anything expensive.

Re: Need a few decent knives

Personally I prefer the knives with the non metal handles. The handles made out of wood or compact rubber or whatever. Cause after a long chopping session, hand sweat or juice from whatever you are chopping can make a metal knife handle slippery. And that makes it harder to chop things.

And for Knife brands I bought a few cheapie victorinox knives. 25 cm cooks knife, boning knife, paring knife, turning knife, bread knife, pallet knife and filleting knife. And they are like worth like $200 for all of them together. Well I didn't pay for them, they came with my apprenticeship grant. And I had some left over grant money I had to use or lose so I bought a fancy 20 cm cooks knife.

And I have never used the fancy knife. And of the other knives at home I only ever use the 25 cm cooks knife. Sharpened on a steel it works just great. That and a paring knife and a turning knife is all I ever use at home. Sure if I was to cut fresh bread I'd use the bread knife. But since I buy all my bread pre sliced I don't need it.

And if I was purchasing knives for the home, I'd look around try out knives of different sizes. A paring knife and turning knife I'd say they are very important. But you can get those for like $5 each. That's quite reasonable.

And for the cooks knife I'd try out the 25 cm and the 20 cm one. Both are just as good. Just some prefer the longer one and others prefer the shorter one. I bought my family the shorter 20 cm cooks knife for home and they just love it.

So Cooks knife (20 or 25 cm) paring knife and turning knife is all you really need. Sure if you are filleting fish every day or boning meat every day then other knives would help. But just ask your seafood monger to skin the fish or your butcher to bone the meat for you. You pay enough for the food as is, might as well get them to work for the $$ you are paying them.

And lastly a steel to keep the knives razor sharp. That's like maybe $100 total for a cheapie but very decent knife set that will last you for a long time. My cheapie victorinox knives are almost 5 years old now and they cut and look as good as the day I got them.

PS. For those who do not know. A turning knife is a paring knife but the blade is curved inwards like a crescent moon. It's very good for doing things with round objects. Like taking the eye out of the tomatoes. Or knife peeling tomatoes (some people don't like blanching them). And other things too. And for $5 it's not very much for a useful little knife.

Re: Need a few decent knives

Candlejack wrote:

french-dream09 wrote:

hi does anyone know where i can buy jamies knife set in the block i cant find it anywhere and does anyone have a price for them.

I wouldn't touch them. It's cheap-china knives.Don't. Celebrity-stuff is usually bad, and this is no exception.

I agree. I'm not saying Jamie's knives are good or bad, I've never used them. I'm saying it's best to go into your local chef or knife store and have a look around and ask their opinion. Sure don't let them suck into purchasing anything you don't want. But to me what's the best way to find the best knives for you. And I really think knives are a personal thing. Each person will have a brand and size of knife that suits them the best.

And if you are looking for knives, even for the home can I suggest you buy a little paring knife and a little turning knife. I bought mine for like $5-$10 each. And that was a good brand too. But really most people I know don't have them but they are so useful.

Want to take the eye out of a tomato, or peel it (without using the blanching method) then a turning knife is perfect for those and many other tasks. I'm you all know what a paring knife does so I won't say much more on that.

Re: Need a few decent knives

Re: Need a few decent knives

I'm not sure about only needing one knife. My santoku (Henckels 5 star) does most things, but I still have a flexible boning knife and a serrated utility (for those tomatoes) as well as essentials. A plain utility and a peeler are the non-essential luxuries. Whatever you use, a stone and steel are essentials, except perhaps for those ceramic things with which I have no experience and therefore cannot comment.

Re: Need a few decent knives

The White Rabbit wrote:

I've got victorinox and they've been going for close to a decade...need some sharpening at the moment but are otherwise great. The chef's knive is the victorinox fibrox which I believe is still being made.

Re: Need a few decent knives

I have a decent selection of knives ranging from about £15 each up to a Tojiro senKou deba knife single edge which was £110.

My advice would actually be to go to your local tkmax as they often have a decent selection of a range of quailties, the sizes and style already mentioned are probably the best to go for but the three main suggested knives of a decent quality should be acheiveable for your budget.

I will probably get shot down in flames here but i would suggest to start with just go for a steel for sharpening as a decent stone is in excess of your budget and takes a lot of practice to get right.

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